Frank Cowper (18 January 1849[1] – 28 May 1930) was an English yachtsman and author who was highly influential in popularising single-handed cruising. He has been credited as "the forefather of modern cruising", and his books "laid the foundation" of the pilot guides used by yachtsmen today.[3] As an author he also saw some commercial success with a number of published adventure and romance novels.Cowper learned to sail on the Upper Thames, hiring catboats with friends when he was an undergraduate at Oxford.[4] In 1870, in his final year at university, he spent his summer vacation in Auray, in Brittany in northern France, sailing a small dinghy in the Gulf of Morbihan and out into Quiberon Bay. Between 1892 and 1895[5] Cowper circumnavigated the British Isles, exploring practically every river and creek round the coast. He also crossed the English Channel to France and Belgium. Cowper's most well-known work, Sailing Tours, describes these voyages and was published in five volumes between 1892 and 1909. Original copies are now quite collectable, and a full set can fetch as much as £500.[3] In 1985 Ashford Press published a facsimile reprint of all 5 volumes. Less